Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

WND: Iran Behind Boston Bombings

The Worldnutdaily has an article claiming, with no evidence other than an alleged source within Iranian intelligence, that Iran planned the Boston bombings and helped carry them out. There’s almost nothing in the article of any substance, just that unsourced claim:

Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Forces, ordered reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on various events and public gatherings in the United States years ago, culminating in the bombings at the Boston Marathon one week ago, WND has learned.

According to a source within Iran’s intelligence services, the Islamic regime’s Quds Forces, a special unit of the Revolutionary Guards in charge of extraterritorial operations, have done extensive planning on gatherings, events and high-value targets in the United States for some time, but for two years focused on events such as the Boston Marathon…

The new source in the Guards intelligence unit said the regime’s Quds Forces collaborated with Hezbollah and their operational centers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The operational support teams on the Boston bombings can be linked to those centers, he said.

If this was a credible news source, one might actually take it seriously. But this is the same outlet that last week was claiming that North Korea was behind the bombings. By next week it will be a secret cabal made up of Iran, North Korea, American Atheists and the gay agenda.

Comments

Even if we could take the source at face value, it still doesn’t say that Iran is behind the attacks in Boston. It just says that some other group of terrorists were also considering the Boston Marathon as a potential target.

Oh please. Everyone knows the Illuminati planned the attacks in order that Obama can have cover ban all guns and declare martial law so that the UN can install the New World Order. Right before the global economic collapse that they’re engineering.

Don’t you find it “convenient” that the remaining “brother” can’t speak? That he’s only communicating in writing? Something very fishy’s going on.

/snark

Because if I hadn’t ended that with a /snark tag, someone would have taken me seriously.

I suspect someone at the WND doesn’t understand even basic elements of islam.

Most Chechens are Hanafi Sunnis. There is a salafist presence in Chechnyia, but it is only recent. A substantial minority (almost half) are Sufis.

Simplyfying greatly, Sunnis typically look to Saudi Arabia for support, not Iran. (Hanafi Sunnis more technically are most common in India and Pakistan). Salafists specifically come out of Saudi Arabia.

Shia look to Iran. They generally consider each other just a hair on this side of heretics and in Iraq didn’t hesitate to kill each other.

So even if there were some radical connection, it’s far more likely that Chechens would be tied up in an Al-Queda like group rather than an Iranian group.

If you were a high-level source within the Iranian Intelligence community and you wanted to speak to the American media (for some arcane reason) about the possibility of your country committing terrorist acts within the USA, to whom would you choose to give an interview?!? *.
Dingo
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* If you answered WhirledNutsDaily, go directly to jail, do not pass ‘GO’, do not collect a brass razoo. (And while you’re in there, kill yourself, the world could do with an increase in average IQ).

“The new source in the Guards intelligence unit said the regime’s Quds Forces collaborated with Hezbollah and their operational centers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”
Whow. The “new source in the Guards” puts Hezbollah operational centers in pretty ridiculous places.
Hezbollah consists exclusively of Shia Muslims, and its operational bases are in Lebanon and presumably in Iran and Syria, all countries with relevant Shia populations . There are virtually no Shia Muslims in Bangladesh (86% Sunni/Sufi, 14% Hindu), or Sri Lanka (of its 10% Muslim population almost all adhere to the Sunni Shafi school of thought). No operational bases in either country.
Another example of fundamentalist ignorance about other religions, combined with US-specific map-blindness? These guys will buy anything…

It’s really getting wearying reading about all these increasingly unhinged conspiracy theories from the loonies. I don’t see how you can keep posting about them, Ed.

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I had a thought for encounters with these nuts: Accuse them of being wishy-washy, confused people who believe truth is inherently subjective (not exactly improbable in my experience). Convey the impression that you reasonably expect they’ve changed their conspiracy theory several times before the conversation based on chaotic whims, ideological wishful thinking, and straw-grasping anomaly hunting instead of solid evidence, and that you anticipate that they’ll change it again before the end of the day. Tell them that you inferred their attitude based on their rhetoric and its association with various unsavory characters who engage in similar tropes. If there’s a call to some immediate action based solely on speculation, point it out as a reckless, impulsive attitude that will only aid the enemy and reinforce our established reputation as morally weak, panic-stricken cowards. For the general tone of the conversation, I think weary disappointment might be a good choice.